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Weekender Rollover


Paul Rahn

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Last night was the long awaited rollover for S/V Resolve. I made some modifications to the dolly after some expert advice from Dave R1. I secured the dolly to the deck before the rollover and also added new casters with larger wheels to get over the lip of the garage entrance. We suspended the boat from the garage trusses and using medium duty tie-downs and a "come-along". I had help from 2 neighbors but really 1 helper would have been enough. The load was born by the garage, not by us. After months of delay due to: a) job, B) moving, c) life d) all of the above, I am very excited to be able to start on the surface prep for the hull. I will be bondoing (is that a verb?) the screw holes and doing some light sanding before the expoxy/glass fun begins.

Does anyone have a guestimate as to how much the bondo will shrink? I don't want to look at my boat next year and see 1400 little dots on the finish.

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Congrats Paul,

Can't help you with the bondo question, as I used epoxy myself.

What I will advise, as has been said before, is don't go overboard on the prep of the hull before glassing. Certainly get all the bumps and sharp corners out do the cloth doesn't raise or snag, but don't bother sanding the flat surfaces. Once the cloth and resin are on, they will hide all your good work, and you will have to start fairing all over again. The only sanding I did to the hull was a once over with 120grit to give the cloth/epoxy something to grip.

Be sure to ask any questions when the cloth/glass stage arrives. We've all been through it. :shock:

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ok, heres a question, any reason you couldn't just actually roll the boat over? I'm building on grass outside so space is not really a problem. Seems to me that if you padded the side you were rolling to with old tires or something to have a little give, the structure should take it without a problem.

I'm also having an issue with the whole bondo shrinking thing...I've never heard of it shrinking when used in car repair...never had it shrink when I used it in car repair...I would think that there would be a whole bunch of really pi**ed off people if the bondo repair shrunk and came loose from their car...Why would it shrink when used on a boat? Can doesn't say it shrinks...Stuff seems to stick to wood as well as metal...perhaps this is in the realm of urban legend?

Thoughts?

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That's all we've ever done: roll the boats on their rail. Be careful of the rail as it's a bit delicate, but with caution almost anything can be achieved. We've rolled Weekenders with only one person and a few gallon paint cans.

I know we're confident by way of experience, but it's also important to not worry too much about many of the steps in the process.

Mike

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Bondo shrinks over time and wicks water. This is why it will never stay in your fenders. It is my experience that large areas of bondo are to be avoided at all cost. Fillets, large dents, or major repairs made with bondo will eventually fail. Especially is the is any possibility of thermal expansion or mechanical movement between the adjcent pieces. A better method is to use thickened epoxy for all major work on your boat. Small screw holes may be filled with bondo but why bother. The epoxy is right there anyway and it only takes a small amount. I used bondo for the keel fillets and am slowly but surely replacing them all. After four years of use the I find bondo under most everything that needs to be reworked on my boat.

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We didn't have any grass near the garage to flip the boat. Also, I wanted to have it on a dolly so I could roll it outside for sanding etc. The dolly seems to work well as it raises the boat up a foot or so which makes it easier to work on.

As for the bondo, I think I will limit remaining bondo to screw holes. I've worked with epoxy in the past (Cheap Canoe) and while I didn't have any major problems, it requires a lot more thought and for a messy guy like me is very unforgiving. Also, when the wife comes into the garage to ask me a question when working with bondo, I can stop what I am doing and help her with something (like digging a large hole for one of her many plants). Epoxy application is definitely a more premeditative event which doesn't lend itself to pauses or distraction. Conclusion: Bondo is easier to work with but I won't rely on it for any serious filling/fairing.

Thanks for the input.

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